Community Playbook

Welcome to the Replay Poker Community

Our players often tell us that Replay Poker is the best poker community on the internet, and we're thrilled that you've chosen to be a part of it. We've worked hard to create a friendly and safe environment for players at all levels. As a result, our community has grown into a unique environment where everyone can make friends from all over the world while enjoying their favorite style of poker. This playbook is your guide to help you better understand and appreciate the rules and expectations of the community. These guidelines do not encompass every possible situation, but rest assured, we strive to use our best judgment when taking action on an account. We believe this promotes a friendly environment that enables everyone to continue to have fun and enjoy the great game of poker.

Code of Conduct

The Code of Conduct is your general rule of thumb for how to behave in the community. Really if you use common sense and treat people with respect and courtesy, you won't have any issues. We've put together this handy HAVE FUN! list for you…

Feel free to DO these:

Hone your skills

Act respectfully and be considerate

Visit the Community Forums

Encourage others and be a good gamer

Find friends and enjoy chats.

Understand poker rules and strategies

Notice and praise players’ skills

!!!Have fun!!!

…and a second handy list of PHRASING that sums up chat violations…

DON’T do these:

Profanity, vulgarity or obscenities, retaliation or provocation, trolling or swarming

Name calling, personal attacks on players or their family members, perverse remarks

General rudeness, rude impatience, flooding chat line, shouting in all caps, disrupting game play

Volunteer Player Reps and Moderators

Our Player Reps and Moderators are players, just like you, who volunteer their time to help other players on the site. They will answer your questions, remind players of Replay Poker's policies and rules, and handle conflicts on the tables. Volunteers are identified by a call-out beside their name, and their chat displays in a distinctive color. Their presence at the table does not mean they are monitoring a specific player – most often, they are simply enjoying their favorite game of poker.

A player may be reported to a Player Rep or Moderator, who will visit the table and remind the offensive player that the chat is in violation of the rules. The player is expected to stop engaging in inappropriate chat. Disrespecting or attacking a Volunteer is not tolerated.

Policies

Our Code of Conduct acts as a general guide for how to behave. Our Account, Chat and Collusion policies delve into the specifics of our rules here on Replay Poker.

Account

To keep things friendly and fair, every player must follow our account policies, including:

Age Restrictions

Replay Poker is an adult site intended for players age 18 and over. However, we allow players ages 13-17 to create an account – with the consent of a legal guardian who must read and agree to our Terms of Service. Preteens, (under the age of 13) are not permitted to play poker on the Replay Poker site.

Multiple Accounts & Sharing

Two simple rules:

You may only have one Replay Poker account.

No sharing of accounts – You, and only you, are allowed to use your Replay Poker account.

Usernames

Usernames must NOT contain:

Profanity, vulgarity or obscenities

Sexual references, drug references

Sexism, bigotry or homophobic slurs

Racial, ethnic or religious slurs

References to criminal, political or religious figures

Inappropriate references to body parts or bodily functions

Alternative spellings of any of the above

Just about anything found in Urban Dictionary

Avatars

Profile images must NOT contain:

Nudity, pornography or sexually explicit images

Current or historic criminal, religious or political figures/symbols

Trademarked or copyrighted images

Drug references/symbols

Depictions of violence

Racial, ethnic or religious slurs

Sexism, bigotry or homophobic slurs

Obscene gestures or captions that include profanity

Profile Bios

Profile biographies must NOT contain:

Profanity, vulgarity or obscenities

Sexual references, sexism, bigotry or homophobic slurs

Racial, ethnic or religious slurs

Inappropriate references to criminal, political or religious figures

Inappropriate references to body parts or bodily functions

Inappropriate links or advertising

Personal attacks or threats toward players, volunteers orstaff

References to conflicts with players or Replay Poker volunteers or
staff

Chat & Message

Personal Messaging, Game/Lobby Chat

We don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable, offended, threatened or unsafe when they sit down at one of our tables. To this end, we have rules and expectations for types of words, phrases and/or images that are not acceptable to use when engaging in table or lobby chat and/or personal messaging. Positive comments, praise and encouragement are always welcome, but we do ask that you DO NOT engage in any of the following types of PHRASING:

Profanity, vulgarity or obscenities, retaliation or provocation, trolling or swarming

Name calling, personal attacks on players or their family members, perverse remarks

General rudeness, rude impatience, flooding chat line, shouting in all caps, disrupting game play

Politics and Religion

Please consider that the poker table is not an appropriate venue for political or religious comments. These are highly emotional topics that often lead to conflicts, and there are other places better suited for these kinds of conversations.

Foreign Languages

It's important to note that we are an international site, and we have players from all over the world. We do not discriminate against players who use languages other than English for their chats, but the same rules and penalties apply to all languages.

Enthnic and Cultural Considerations

While certain words, phrases and/or images may not be offensive to you, consider the fact that the same language or image may have a completely different meaning to players from other countries or cultures. We ask every player to chat respectfully and show courtesy for all other players.

Slow Play

A time clock is provided for every player on every hand of poker. At Replay Poker, we believe each player should have adequate time to make a play based on their personal strategy. Some players need more time than others. We ask that all players be patient and not make rude comments or post a series of “z”s in the chat line to express their impatience. We also ask players not to use the time clock as a method to retaliate against or provoke others. Intentionally running out the clock slows the game and makes the experience unpleasant and painfully boring for all players.

Poor Gamesmanship

Players are frequently reported for playing strategies that reflect very poor gamesmanship. This may include strategies that disrupt the natural flow of the game and are frustrating for fellow players, such as "bingo" play. Penalties for poor gamesmanship are at the sole discretion of Replay Poker staff.

Private Tables

Replay Poker does not offer private tables. All players, including all volunteers and staff, are permitted to play on any table available from the Ring/Tournament lobbies. Players are not permitted to ask or demand that another player to leave a table.

Collusion

Nobody likes questionable tactics, especially on a poker site. At Replay Poker we're committed to offering all players a fair and competitive hand of poker. Therefore, we absolutely DO NOT tolerate the following:

Collusion - a situation in which you and other players work together, either by sharing knowledge or other means, to gain an unfair advantage.

Chip dumping - a situation in which you lose a hand intentionally to another player in order to transfer chips and vice versa.

Note:In order to prevent cheating, we do not allow players from the same household (or anyone sharing the same IP address) to play in the same ring game or tournament where 10 or fewer players are registered.

Reporting Abuse

We appreciate players who show their concern for the integrity of our site by letting us know when violations to Replay Poker’s policies occur. There are two simple methods of reporting abuse:

Go to the player’s profile page and click on REPORT PLAYER.

At a game table, click on the player’s name and click on the REPORT PLAYER <!> icon.

In either method, a pop-up window displays for you to select the type of chat violation and enter a description (required) of the violation. (For example, Abuse Type = Inappropriate Chat and Description = Profanity. We will appreciate it if you use the type(s) of words and/or phrases included in the PHRASING list presented earlier.) A report is generated and sent to Replay Poker staff when you click the "Send Report" button.

In the event a player’s chat violation is extreme and needs immediate attention, you can also send a personal message to one of our online Player Reps or Moderators. Click on “Moderators” at the bottom of the Dashboard or Lobby pages to determine which Volunteer(s) may be online.

NOTE:If a Volunteer’s username is “grayed out,” this means they are not online and will not receive your message until they return to the site.

Penalties

Of course we hope that everyone on the site will read and follow the policies we have in place, but unfortunately this is not always the case. We take every situation into careful consideration and use our best judgment before taking action on an account.

In the unfortunate event you are reported for an actionable chat violation, you will receive a notification that requests you check your email for details. The email identifies the penalty imposed and describes the chat violation. The description provided in the message will designate the violation category, table or hand #, and a few examples of the wording in the chat that violates our rules.

Account Violations

If you break the rules, you can expect the following consequences:

Multiple Accounts

If we find that you are managing multiple accounts on Replay Poker, the additional accounts will be closed and the chips forfeited. The account with the largest number of chips may be chosen as the primary account to remain open. However, if policy violations have occurred on an account with a smaller chip balance, that account will be retained as the primary. New accounts that are set up to bypass a moderation action will be closed. Repeatedly setting up new accounts may result in a permanent ban on the account IP address.

Username

If your username violates our policy, we will update your username to something more appropriate. You will need to contact support@replaypoker.com to change it.

Avatar and Profile Biography

Offensive Avatar and/or Profile Biography content will be removed; however, you may post another image and/or new biography content. After a second violation, your Avatar and/or Profile Biography will be removed and locked. You will no longer be able to change it.

Chat & Message Violations

Since game chats and personal messages are the main channels where players communicate with one another, we take our chat rules very seriously. Depending on the nature and circumstances of the violation, you may be given a warning; or your account may be muted for up to one month; or, your account may be muted permanently or banned if we determine that is appropriate. Repeated violations indicate serious disrespect for other players and blatant disregard for Replay Poker's policies and rules and result in escalating time penalties. Time between violations is always a consideration, and penalties are adjusted depending on each individual situation.

Depending on the severity of the violation, your account may be temporarily or permanently muted or banned based solely on our judgment. Criteria that could result in getting muted/banned include:

Hate speech, bigotry or racism, trolling

Sexual harassment, vulgarity or obscenity

Threats of violence, promoting drugs or illegal activities

Gratuitous negativity and egregious site bashing

Hacking or other actions that undermine the integrity of the site

Aggressive harassment of staff members and/or volunteers

Posting malicious or pornographic links to websites

Collusion in any form or manner

Repeatedly violating Replay Poker policies and rules

Collusion Violations

We do not tolerate any form of collusion. Our Security & Collusion Team actively monitors the site for collusion. When collusion is identified, the Team assesses the severity of the violation. Depending on circumstances, a penalty is imposed -- ranging from a warning to a temporary suspension or even permanent ban -- for all accounts and account owners involved. Chips related to any collusion violations are subject to confiscation by Replay Poker.

Appealing a Decision

We always strive to put our community first. If you feel you were wrongly penalized, you can appeal the decision by sending an email to the Replay Poker staff at support@replaypoker.com and explaining the circumstances from your perspective.

Help…

Help is always available here at Replay Poker. We’ve provided several ways to get your questions answered, to offer suggestions and share poker knowledge and, of course, bad beat tales!

Help provides comprehensive information about the site and includes a Frequently Asked Questions section to make it even easier. Within the Help Center, you will also find our Knowledge Base, which includes valuable information about how to play all of the forms of poker that Replay Poker offers. Click on the Help icon (?) at the top of the Dashboard and Lobby screens or from your profile drop-down menu, click on Help Center.

Player Reps and Moderators are friendly players who volunteer their time to answer questions regarding the site as well as poker in general, and they can also handle conflicts at tables. Click on "Moderators" at the bottom of Dashboard or Lobby pages to determine which Volunteer(s) may be online. You can send them a message, and they will respond in a timely manner.
NOTE: If a Volunteer’s username is “grayed out,” this means they are not online and will not receive your message until they return to the site.

Community Forums – an ideal discussion arena that is accessible to all players from their Profile drop-down list. It’s where pros and novices gather to ask questions, offer suggestions and share bad beat tales! Click on Profile and select Community Forums.

If you need an answer right away, email Replay Poker’s knowledgeable Support Staff at support@replaypoker.com with technical questions or account issues. Support staff members are available 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. (US Eastern Time Zone) Monday – Friday.

Bottom Line

We put our community first. We want Replay Poker to be a fun and safe environment for all players. While playing on Replay Poker, you will encounter thousands of other players who share different experiences and come from vastly different backgrounds. While certain words, phrases and/or images may not be offensive to you, consider the fact that the same language or image may have a completely different meaning to players from other countries. We’ve taken great care to ensure that the Replay Poker site provides a welcoming environment to meet new folks and sharpen your poker skills – your personal behavior is entirely up to you. Let’s make it a fun and enjoyable experience for everyone!